The Children's Health Fund

HEALTHY AND READY TO LEARN Launched in 2014, the Children's Health Fund's Healthy and Ready to Learn (HRL) initiative addresses health barriers that interfere with learning, particularly those rooted in social, racial, and economic inequities. The program supports families in recognizing student health challenges and promotes trauma-sensitive, supportive environments for children to thrive.See Schedule OIn 2024, HRL continued to respond to growing behavioral and mental health needs, with a strong focus on building meaningful homeschool partnerships and supporting a positive school climate. The program expanded its presence in early childhood care and education settings by developing and delivering content tailored to caregivers of children ages 0- 5. This included interactive wellness workshops, health education, and the integration of practices that promote healthy development. HRL's online resource and training center remained an active hub for professional development, family-friendly resources, newsletters, and accessible wellness tools for both educators and caregivers.

PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES: CHF's Public Health Initiatives seek to improve and protect population and community health. We engage local communities and promote patient empowerment to improve health outcomes in under-resourced communities. PHI draws upon data and insights from our national network partner programs to develop interventions focused on prevention, social drivers of health, health equity, and health education. These interventions inform our advocacy work, and we disseminate lessons learned broadly through our Innovation Lab, online briefings, and conferences.See Schedule OIn 2024, CHF's Public Health Initiatives department implemented three Community Health Equity and Engagement Roundtables (CHEERs) in underserved communities nationwide, engaging 56 multi-sectoral stakeholders. The CHEERs gather local stakeholders from various sectors to identify localized social drivers of health and collaboratively strategize initiatives to address these challenges. The roundtables position patients, families, and youth as key stakeholders among healthcare professionals, policymakers, and social service organizations to drive community-based change.In 2024, CHF introduced the Community Compass--a novel initiative that engages communities to identify needs and priorities in order to inform the development of a mobile health program. The Community Compass fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where diverse community voices are heard, ensuring that the unique needs of the community are prioritized within project planning processes. CHF produces a comprehensive findings report following each Community Compass that includes a detailed summary of community needs and priorities in addition to recommendations for actionable next steps informed by our nearly 40 years of experience in public health programming. CHF hosted three Community Compasses in 2024.